Collaboration

Using Google +
Introduction LightBulb High School, specializing in science and technology, has 1,000 students in grades 9-12. The faculty has decided to use social media to create an online networking and knowledge sharing space for all four grades. LightBulb High School has selected Google+ to share news and scholastic resources, promote student achievements and success stories, collaborate on extracurricular course activities and provide a social network that strengthens student-teacher relationships. This four-part workshop will combine technical how-to demonstrations with best practices on using social media for academic collaboration. These lessons will cover Getting Started, Sharing, Collaboration and Events.

Figure 1: Lightbulb High School

This lesson from the four-part workshop will combine technical how-to demonstrations with relevant research on using social media for academic collaboration between 11th grade students within the context of Dr. Paulings junior level chemistry class. The use of the Google+ Hangouts and real-time document collaboration features are seen as primary methods for groups of chemistry students to collaborate on lab results and related chemistry coursework, and will specifically be utilized during end of unit challenges. Front-end Analysis and Instructional Goals Currently, students in Dr. Paulings chemistry class collaborate in teams working on lab activities. At the end of each unit, a unit challenge is assigned, requiring student teams to share information and collaborate on a challenge. Student feedback from past course evaluations suggest that students would benefit from additional collaboration time outside of the normal school day. With the schools adoption of Google Apps for EDU, students now have access to a full suite of integrated, collaborative software. The use of Google+ Hangouts and the shareable features of Google Apps for EDU are seen as primary means for student teams to collaborate outside of the classroom during non-school hours. This enhanced collaboration will improve the quality and effectiveness of student performance on end of unit challenges in chemistry, and consequently will enhance student performance in the course. Instructional Goal: Students will be able to collaborate effectively on group assignments by providing peer feedback and discussing appropriate lab activities, course materials and related reflections from Dr. Paulings chemistry class through the use of Google + Hangouts.

EDCI 572 Phillip Cook

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Collaboration Using Google +

Goal/Task Analysis Goal Classification: Intellectual Skill Goal Analysis: Subordinate and Entry Skills
Determine reason to conduct collaborative session 1 Conduct collaborative session 2 Evaluate collaborative session 3 Collaborate effectively on group assignments by providing peer feedback and discussing appropriate lab activites, course materials and related reflections from Dr. Paulings chemistry class through the use of Google + Hangouts

See Appendix A for full-size image of analysis.

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Collaboration Using Google +

Learner and Context Analysis Learner Characteristics A group of 30 students enrolled in 11th grade chemistry course at LightBulb High School in San Francisco, California and have agreed to participate in a pilot group in Dr. Paulings chemistry course. To gather background information on the students, demographic data was collected from official school records, academic data was collected from the instructor, and student insight data was collected through a technology readiness survey. These students are between the ages of 17 and 18 and are all enrolled in the same chemistry class with Dr. Pauling as an instructor. Based the technology readiness survey results, all students considered themselves frequent Internet and social media users, but only 10% of the students are familiar with Google+. All students have access to computers with Internet connections at home or at the school computer lab. The school uses Google Apps for EDU, so each student has a school-domain linked UserID and password. Students are geographically spread out throughout the city with only 20% living within 3 miles of the school. The students selected for this pilot group come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (5% African American, 25% Asian, 50% Caucasian, 15% Hispanic, and 5% multiethnic), which is representative of the LightBulb High School student body. More than half of the group are upper-middle class with total family incomes averaging $200,000 per year. They had little to no previous knowledge of chemistry; however all completed the prerequisite, biology, prior to starting the course. Motivation to succeed is very high, as the students will be taking standardized state tests at the end of the year that will determine their placement in advanced classes for their senior, pre-college year of high school. 20% of the students are achieving a grade of A, 50% have a B, 15% have a C and 5% are currently failing Dr. Paulings chemistry class. Students have communicated that they are excited to be utilizing social media in the classroom and are very willing to enhance their learning by peer collaboration and online supplementary resources. Learning Context Analysis [Some overlap in shared + individual info]: Students will access the Google+ training workshop from their personal home computer or the school computer lab. They are not required to participate at a specific time of day or week. Instruction will be delivered online on- demand, which can be paused and restarted anytime. Technology compatibility constraints should not present any issues in the development or delivery of the training as the online workshop will be accessible across both Mac and PC platforms and across multiple web browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. The online workshop will include hands-on exercises where the students will be responsible for posting messages in Google+ based on the information presented during instruction. With Googles rapid development cycle, however, a potential constraint may arise where a new feature, button or user interface customization may be present in the live instance of Google+ that is not presented in the instructional text or screenshots. It will be crucial to keep these training lessons up to date as often as possible to overcome this challenge. Another potential constraint may arise with the required time commitment needed from the instructor to review all student postings to ensure that content adheres to LightBulb High School code of conduct guidelines. A unit will be included in the Sharing lesson that covers social media etiquette and instructs students how to interact online under the schools code of conduct policies. This instruction should help offset the need for the instructor to be hyper vigilant on all student online activity.

EDCI 572 Phillip Cook

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